From Our Bureau
18TH JUNE 2020
India witnessed a surge in COVID-19 positive cases. The number of confirmed cases soared to 3,66,946 on Thursday. The death toll rose to 12,237.
During the last 24 hours, 7,390 COVID-19 patients were cured. A total of 1,94,325 patients have been cured of COVID-19 so far. The recovery rate increased to 52.96 percent. Currently, 1,60,384 active cases are under medical supervision.
The testing capacity for detecting the novel Coronavirus in infected persons in the country is continuously being ramped up. The country now has the capacity to test 3 lakh samples per day. The total number of samples tested thus far is 62,49,668 with 1,65,412 samples tested in the last 24 hours.
A network of 953 labs has been created in the country as on date. This includes 699 labs in the government sector and 254 in the private sector. The tally comprises Real-Time RT PCR based testing labs: 540 (Govt: 349 + Private: 191); TrueNat based testing labs : 340 (Govt: 325 + Private: 15) and CBNAAT based testing labs : 73 (Govt: 25 + Private: 48).
Union Minister of Health & Family Welfare Dr. Harsh Vardhan launched India’s first mobile I-Lab (Infectious disease diagnostic lab) for COVID-19 testing for last mile testing access. It will be deployed in remote, interior and inaccessible parts of the country and have capability to perform 25 COVID-19 RT-PCR tests/Day, 300 ELISA tests/day, additional tests for TB, HIV etc. as per CGHS rates. The Infectious Disease Diagnostic Lab (I-LAB) is supported by the Department of Biotechnology, Ministry of Science & Technology, under the Covid Command strategy. (eom)
